You're able, please stand for the reading of God's word.
Are we in today comes from the Gospel of John chapter 14 verses
1 through 14. Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God believe. Also in me.
In my father's house are many rooms.
If it were not. So would I have told you that I
go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. And we'll take you to myself
that where I am, you may be also.
And you know, the way to where I'm going Thomas said to him,
Lord we do not know where you are going, how can we know the
way? Jesus said to him, I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father,
except through me. If you had known me, you would
have known my father. Also, From now on you do know
him and you have seen him Philip said to him Lord show us the
father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been
with you so long and you still do not know me?
Philip Whoever has seen me, has seen the father.
How can you say, show us the father?
Do you not believe that I am in the father?
And the father is in me? The words that I say to you, I
do not speak on my own authority but the father who dwells in me
does his Works, believe me that I am in the father and the
father is in me or else believe on the count of The Works
themselves. Truly truly, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and
greater Works than these will he do?
Because I am going to the father, whatever you ask in my
name, this, I will do that. The father may be glorified in
the son, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
Around the Leopold, family dinner table, our kids are
always asking us to hear stories from our childhood.
They want to know, when Mom and Dad were little, what was it?
Like, it's usually the same 10 stories that they asked over and
over again. And for some reason they really
like the stories when Dad got hurt.
I don't really know what that's about but those are the ones
they want to hear over and over again.
And I'm always Just fascinated, how interested they are in it.
It doesn't matter how many times they've heard it.
They want to hear it again. I think it shows us a bit of our
Humanity. God is gracious and our children
to show us a bit of who we are that.
We're kind of sometimes a little bit too hard of heart to admit
when we're adults, but we need stories.
We need stories to make sense of the journey that were on.
We're going to call it a little bit of the way that we're on
today. The stories we tell are like
road signs along the ways of life for kids and helps them.
Make sense of this new world that they're living in how to
make sense of getting bigger in the world for parents.
For ordered people, we just need stories to remind us of what is
familiar to help us. Come back to what we know when
the world seems very uncertain and very uneasy Jesus, The
Shepherd of our souls knew, his disciples would need to hear
stories and we're going to look at this great.
I am statement today, but I want to remind us that it's in the
context of a story. Jesus knew that the disciples
would need truth to mark their way.
Robbie reminded us of the context of what we're doing.
He is ready to go on his way to the cross.
And as we prepare our hearts to receive a new the significance
of the Resurrection, we want to relive the drama of what
transpired in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
And we were getting to see some of the signposts that Jesus left
for the disciples for their way on the journey.
So yes, this well-known statement of I am a lot of are
passages of scripture will contain an IM statement this
week on Sunday looked at I am the resurrection and the life
today we're looking at I am the way the truth and the life that
no one comes to the father. Except through me, Jesus said
this and I think it's easy because in Christianity we hear
that that verse over and over again we think it's just a
doctrinal statement of fact but let's remember that it comes to
us in response to a question. And Jesus is approaching a
friend. I love that.
We just sang. What a friend we have in Jesus.
Jesus is approaching a friend and telling in responding to his
question and we're going to actually look at a little bit of
the life of that friend Thomas. It's kind of interesting.
The Gospel of John is the only gospel that really tells us more
about the life of Thomas so I think we should pay attention to
it. The other gospel is just merely
list him as on the list of disciples but he has kind of
several different Experiences in the Gospel of John chapter 11,
he he's actually involved with the raising of Lazarus and verse
16. He talks about.
He actually makes this appeal that he wants to go and die to
like Lazarus. It's kind of this Brazen moment
of Courage that he's just kind of throwing himself into the
story and saying, yes, I want to die to not fully understanding
the purpose of what Jesus was doing.
Through raising Lazarus from the dead here.
In chapter 14, we see this question and and verse 5 that
Jesus is asking, are the Thomas is asking of Jesus.
Despite kind of rather in fatica Lee just before that Jesus tells
him the answer to his question and verse 4 and will go on to
see you later on in the gospel Thomas would have been among the
disciples who would leave Jesus side during his trial and
crucifixion. Many of us know the famous
moments with Thomas and Chapter 20, The Gospel of John that the
doubting Thomas moment, how he gets his Infamous name, where he
is needing to see the wounds of Jesus in his hands in order to
believe that Jesus had truly died and come back to life.
Jesus lovingly responded to him, he allowed him to touch and then
actually exhorted him that those are blessed who believe with who
have not seen and yet believe In the the funny thing from that
moment to from Jesus exert from Thomas, experiencing Jesus the
resurrected Jesus we know from church history Thomas would go
on from that moment to preach the gospel to plant churches and
Persia China. And India and many believe he
was actually martyred for his faith at the end of his life.
So who is this? Thomas he's certainly more than
just doubting Thomas that we Year from a lot of phrases.
I actually see some courage in him.
We know that he just followed Jesus.
He was one of his disciples he picked up, he just left what he
had there and picked up, what he could carry and follow Jesus.
And yet we see continually that he sort of misunderstands Jesus
comments, particularly when it comes to his death and
Resurrection. And here we come to verses 23
and four in our passage and kind of the essence of Thomas is
question. And actually, you know, Thomas
kind of gets called out. He has a bad rap, but I would
venture to say all of the disciples were asking this
question, Thomas, just kind of represents them in this moment,
they just fully have not fully grasp.
What Jesus has said about the destination on the way Even
though in verses 23, Jesus plainly tells them where it is,
that Jesus is going and where it is, that he's going to take them
Thomas, wanted more information. It's hard to kind of say why
that is I sort of see myself in Thomas, so I can make some some
Ventures to say. Maybe his mind, just didn't
fully comprehend, the idea of Heaven quite yet.
Maybe it was his heart, maybe his heart could not handle the
idea of losing a friend that he has been with for three years.
Maybe it was just his will. Maybe he was unwilling to leave
behind what they knew in this world to the idea of what would
be coming in the next. The The what we see in the
beauty of Jesus here is he just didn't take Thomas's question
and directly answer it. He could have said silly Thomas
he could have said, did you not just hear what I just said, but
he didn't say that. He offered himself.
Jesus showed that Thomas. Was asking a question that would
lead to a less significant answer.
He doesn't even actually say Thomas and say why did you ask
that question? He just gives a lovingly kind of
change of perspective. Thomas asked, the how, how is it
going to be and Jesus answered with the who who was going to
be? And I think we're all a little
bit more, like, Thomas than we'd like to admit.
I struggle with reducing faith in Jesus to just simply learning
facts, about Jesus, purely intellectually ascending to
those thoughts about him, that that's what Christina is all
about. There's these beliefs and as the
in to believe them and that's it.
And yes to be a Christian means to believe a baseline of truths
if we're going to follow Jesus. We have to believe something
about him in order to follow him and we do have to intellectually
Ascend to those truths. But it's more much more than
that. When one puts their faith in
Jesus. Yes, our whole world view
changes, but I ask the question. Are we following a worldview or
are we following a person? We can't forget the love of the
Savior. The love of the savior is, what
has transformed our minds to see the world differently?
We don't have the facts about God, apart from dependence on
the Savior, the way, the truth, and the life.
How are you tempted to try to rationalize God instead of
actively taking the hand of the Savior?
So Jesus doesn't always tell us the wire.
How But he always gives him himself.
Verse one, from our passive says, let not your hearts.
Be troubled, believe in God. And also believe in me.
And, and Jesus goes on to describe himself as the way.
But what was the way that Jesus was going to take and making
himself the way the truth and the life for us?
we remember that Jesus from this point on, in the story, he would
continue to teach For another way.
I'm not that other couple days of preaching here, so come back
for it. Jesus would continue to teach he
would sweat blood. He would beg the father for
another way. He would be betrayed.
He would receive Injustice. He would then be beaten flogged
bloodied, put on the crown of thorns, his hands and feet,
nailed to the cross. Die.
An agonizing suffocating death and then feel the torment of his
soul in hell. All this to make our way, look a
little different. What about our way?
For those who put their trust in Jesus, knowing that Jesus has
taken the way of judgment and destruction so that we may have
the way of truth and life. He has changed our way to look
something a little more like this.
These are promises taken from Psalm 23, but in different
words, the way to trust and is Shepherd a Good Shepherd who
feeds his sheep everything. They need along the way, the
Sheep do not want the way of being led by him to Green
Pastures even when we fight him, the way of being led beside
Still Waters, The way of being restored at the level of our
soul. The way of knowing what is
right? The way of Freedom From Fear
even though the darkness of death looms closely.
The way of comfort that comes from the protection of the
shepherd. The way of provision knowing
that a table is set for us, even though our enemies are close
around. The way of being anointed to
preach the message of the way, the truth, and the life that has
been given to us. The way of knowing God will
never leave us all the days of our life and that our future is
secure in the house of the Lord forever.
I encourage you throughout the state of look back at Psalm 23
and just reflect on how our way is different because Jesus Took
the way of Destruction and death.
I said earlier my introduction that Jesus gave his disciples
stories as signpost to mark their way as he was on his way
to the cross. The statement was true but it
was incomplete. D.
Jesus didn't just give them stories.
He gave them himself and that is what they needed.
I'm gonna close us in a time of prayer and an after my prayer,
we're going to have a time of Silent reflection for yourself,
as you consider the way the truth and the life.
God, we thank you for your graciousness to take our
questions and to ask to transform them and give us truth
God, we confess that we are often tempted to ask the how
when we need to be asking The Who God is a church body, we
come to troubled. We come to you in a state of
suffering. And yet we are grateful that you
have given us yourself. God, I pray that you would help
us to. Remember that there are the
truths of who you are important but ultimately that you extend
the hand to us. Help us to know when to take the
hand to even see in that hand. The the nails on the cross, the
holes in your hands from the nails on the cross.
And to come to you and worship Independence, and have our view
of this world transformed because of it.
And to come to you and worship Independence, and have our view
of this world transformed because of it.